Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money - All Comments

re: Off to car heaven: Saturn, Saab, Hummer

urcrazy5 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:33:49 GMT

Everyone needs to realize that mostly everything is made somewhere other than here. The american made cars are not american made! They are assembled here. Many of the parts that the vehicle is made from is made somewhere else. We just put it together. I love my Toyota Tundra. It was assembled here so it would be american made like the others. And I agree with the union milking the heck out of the automakers. They got greedy and now look at the mess were in. Of course, they are not to blame for everything.

re: Want fuel economy? Consider a good old stick shift

Stella — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:32:32 GMT

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re: Chase raises minimum payments on credit cards

mark Krumm — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:19:12 GMT

I am dealing with Chase right now. Chase admitted with would be a hardship to credit card users. Chase has told me they can do all they do legally. Good for them...Chase's actions are still unethical and should be an embarrassment to what used to be a great company.

re: Chase raises minimum payments on credit cards

Had Enough — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:03:35 GMT

Well I won't keep paying because I couldn't pay this outrageous and unreasonable minimum payment if I wanted to. Over the last five years or so every penny of my yearly pay increase goes directly to my increased health insurance premiums. Every time I go to the doctor I always get a nice little statement about what's not covered along with my "share" of the cost of going to the Doctor's office. It seems like all these big companies are fighting over whatever we have left from our wages that haven't kept up with the increases in the cost of food and gas and health insurance and on and on. Last year was difficult for us when the price of gas went so high and soon the prices will be there again. This isn't over by a long shot. I would be much better off paying cash for everything....instead of paying Chase I could build an emergency savings account to use when the price of food and gas increase again soon. Maybe I should be more concerned about my family's financial future and our "bottom line" and less concerned about doing the right thing. Chase doesn't care, why should I? I have a feeling the future isn't going to be anything like the past and I would feel better knowing I have some savings rather than not being able to put food on the table because I was so responsible paying Chase.

re: How do you measure your financial success?

jd — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:41:18 GMT

If you can pay your bills and your happy, then your financially successfull. Here is a place to save on car insurance: http://www.shop4insurance.org. The old saying is true, it isn't how much you make, but how much you save!!

re: 'Cheaper than cheap': Tips for ultra-frugal living

Dragonflymoon — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:43:29 GMT

We have joined the Compact...no plastic unless absolutely necessary, ie Saline for my contacts. No bottled water, ever. Luckily our tap water is wonderful. I make our detergent, for the recipe just google homemade detergent, but it's basically a bar of pure/natural soap whirled in a blender and then mixed with washing soda and Borax. The washing soda was hard to find and I finally had to order it off the Internet.

I hang our clothes to dry, dilute everything I can, use the liquids from veggie cans in soup, what we don't eat the dogs will. No food goes to waste. We are going to try waxed paper instead of baggies, and making our own produce bags to take to the store. Not sure yet how that will work.

We buy nothing new if possible, trade/barter and Freecycle.

After having read through all these comments it seems to me that frugality and living lightly on the land are really the same thing, and whether one has to or wants to live like this makes no difference. I like to think of myself as an Ultra-Frugal Eco-Warrior and feel that if there were more of us the world we leave our children will be better for it.

re: Chase raises minimum payments on credit cards

Sam — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:40:49 GMT

So my husband and I have debt... Our kids were abused at their daycare and my wife quit her high paying job to abruptly stay home with them. That left us with one income all of a sudden. We sold our car and our house at a significant loss to deal with the loss of one income, but we still racked up debts. One of our children (of three) has significant medical problems as a result of the daycare abuse. We did not want to be in debt, but we have always paid every single bill on time and been smart about managing our finances. We never thought about declaring bankruptcy and take pride in taking care of ourselves. Asking us to pay this agreed upon low rate loan back at 5% of the minimum balance "just like that" is absolutely ridiculous. We cannot afford to pay our loan back this quickly, but Chase is betting on that so they can charge us the high purchase interest rate at 3-4 times our low fixed rate. At the high purchase rate, we will NEVER pay our loan off, even if we keep paying 5% of the minimum balance forever. Chase will get to recognize the high interest income and receive high cash flow. They are betting we keep paying because we look like people who will not declare bankruptcy with our stellar payment histories. They have pushed us too far.

re: Congress fumes over credit card rate hikes

Bruce Veale — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:34:28 GMT

Where do people come up with 18 months? The new requirements take effect next February. Obama was only sworn into office in January of this year and he was dealing with the financial crisis for the first bit, the new credit regulations were sent to him in May.

One can argue even 9 months is way too long but just don't make up dates.

re: 25 ways to save money on gas

Mick — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:06:07 GMT

Riding my Harley.

re: Congress fumes over credit card rate hikes

Bruce Veale — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:51:48 GMT

Congress gave the credit card companies 9 months, not 18. Way too long but Obama didn't take office till January and credit card reform was on the back seat behind the financial crisis.